Charge-discharge control circuit including cell balancing circuits, cell balance detection circuits, overcharge detection circuits, and a control circuit

ABSTRACT

A charge-discharge control circuit includes a first cell balancing circuit having a first switch; a second cell balancing circuit having a second switch; a first cell balance detection circuit having a third switch; a second cell balance detection circuit having a fourth switch; and a control circuit which outputs a control signal to turn on the first switch in a prescribed cycle according to the voltage of a first battery which is higher than or equal to a cell balance detection voltage, or outputs a control signal to turn on the second switch in the prescribed cycle according to the voltage of a second battery which is higher than or equal to the cell balance detection voltage, and outputs a control signal to turn off the third switch and the fourth switch in the prescribed cycle during output of the control signal.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-108775, filed on Jun. 11, 2019, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-141959, filed on Aug. 1, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a charge-discharge control circuit and a battery device.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional battery device including cell balancing circuits.

The conventional battery device includes a charge-discharge control circuit 20, batteries 21 a, 21 b, protective resistors 22 a, 22 b, an FET 23, cell balancing circuits 24 a, 24 b, and external terminals EB+, EB−. The charge-discharge control circuit 20 has cell balance detection circuits 25 a, 25 b, overcharge detection circuits 26 a, 26 b, a control circuit 27, a power-supply terminal VDD, a ground terminal VSS, input terminals VC1, VC2, and output terminals CB1, CB2, CO.

The charge-discharge control circuit 20 monitors the voltages of the batteries 21 a, 21 b, and the control circuit 27 turns the FET 23 on/off depending on the voltage conditions to control the voltages of the batteries 21 a, 21 b.

A charger is connected to the external terminals EB+, EB− to charge the batteries 21 a, 21 b, so that the voltages at the input terminals VC1, VC2 gradually increases. In the case where the voltage of either of the batteries, for example, the voltage of the battery 21 a, that is, the voltage between the input terminals VC2 and VC1 becomes higher than or equal to the cell balance detection voltage, the cell balance detection circuit 25 a provides a detection signal to the control circuit 27, Receiving the detection signal from the cell balance detection circuit 25 a, the control circuit 27 provides a cell balance control signal to the cell balancing circuit 24 a through the output terminal CB1. Receiving the cell balance control signal, the cell balancing circuit 24 a turns the switch on to suppress the charging of the battery 21 a, The charging rate of the battery 21 a is accordingly slowed down compared with the battery 21 b. In the case where the voltage of the battery 21 b becomes higher than or equal to the cell balance detection voltage, the cell balancing circuit 24 b suppresses the charging of the battery 21 b in the same way.

Then, in the case where the voltages of the batteries 21 a, 21 b become higher than or equal to the overcharge detection voltage, the overcharge detection circuits 26 a, 26 b provide a detection signal to the control circuit 27. The control circuit 27 provides, from the output terminal CO, a control signal to turn off the FET 23 in order to stop charging of the batteries 21 a, 21 b.

The charge-discharge control circuit 20 carries out charging operation as described above to eliminate the voltage imbalance between the batteries 21 a, 21 b, that is, to perform cell balancing operation (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-234916).

In response to cost reduction requirements, a strategy to reduce the number of terminals in the charge-discharge control circuit 20 is considered. For example, the cell balancing circuits 24 a, 24 b can be incorporated in the charge-discharge control circuit 20 to eliminate the output terminals CB1, CB2.

However, in the case where the cell balancing circuits 24 a, 24 b are incorporated in the charge-discharge control circuit 20, since current flows through the protective resistors 22 a, 22 b during cell balancing operation, a voltage higher than or equal to a threshold value is applied to the gates of NMOS transistors in the cell balance detection circuits 25 a, 25 b and the overcharge detection circuits 26 a, 26 b, resulting in characteristic deterioration due to long-term use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the costs of a charge-discharge control circuit and a battery device without causing characteristic deterioration of transistors.

A charge-discharge control circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first cell balancing circuit having a first switch; a second cell balancing circuit having a second switch; a first cell balance detection circuit having a third switch, a second cell balance detection circuit having a fourth switch; and a control circuit configured to output a control signal to turn on the first switch in a prescribed cycle according to the voltage of a first battery which is higher than or equal to a cell balance detection voltage, output a control signal to turn on the second switch in the prescribed cycle according to the voltage of a second battery which is higher than or equal to the cell balance detection voltage, and output a control signal to turn off the third switch and the fourth switch in the prescribed cycle during output of the control signal.

Further, a battery device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of batteries and an FET connected in series between a first external terminal and a second external terminal; and the charge-discharge control circuit which monitors the voltage of each of the plurality of batteries to control charging and discharging of the plurality of batteries by turning on/off the FET.

According to the charge-discharge control circuit of the present invention, since the cell balancing circuits are incorporated and the switches which turn on/off complementarily to the switches of the cell balancing circuits are provided in the cell balance detection circuits and other circuits, the number of terminals from which a cell balance signal is supplied can be reduced. In other words, the cost of the charge-discharge control circuit and the battery device can be reduced without causing characteristic deterioration of transistors in the detection circuits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a battery device having cell balancing circuits according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a battery device including conventional cell balancing circuits.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating another battery device having cell balancing circuits according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a battery device having cell balancing circuits according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The battery device includes a charge-discharge control circuit 10, batteries 11 a and 11 b, protective resistors 12 a and 12 b, an FET 13, and an external terminal EB+ and an external terminal EB−. The charge-discharge control circuit 10 has a power-supply terminal VDD, a ground terminal VSS, input terminals VC1, VC2, and an output terminal CO.

The batteries 11 a, 11 b and the FET 13 are connected in series between the external terminal EB+ and the external terminal EB−.

The battery 11 a has a positive terminal connected to the power-supply terminal VDD and the input terminal VC1 through the protective resistor 12 a, and a negative terminal connected to the positive terminal of the battery 11 b and the input terminal VC2 through the protective resistor 12 b. The negative terminal of the battery 11 b is connected to the ground terminal VSS. The gate of the FET 13 is connected to the output terminal CO.

The charge-discharge control circuit 10 has cell balancing circuits 14 a, 14 b, cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b, overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b, and a control circuit 17.

The cell balancing circuit 14 a has a resistor 141 a and a switch 142 a, and the cell balancing circuit 14 b has a resistor 141 b and a switch 142 b.

In the cell balancing circuit Ha, the resistor 141 a and the switch 142 a are connected in series between the input terminal VC1 and the input terminal VC2, and a control terminal of the switch 142 a is connected to a first output terminal of the control circuit 17. In the cell balancing circuit 14 b, the resistor 141 b and the switch 142 b are connected in series between the input terminal VC2 and the ground terminal VSS, and a control terminal of the switch 142 b is connected to a second output terminal of the control circuit 17.

The cell balance detection circuit 15 a has a resistor 151 a, a switch 152 a, a resistor 153 a, a current source 154 a, and an NMOS transistor 155 a, and the cell balance detection circuit 15 b has a resistor 151 b, a switch 152 b, a resistor 153 b, a current source 154 b, and an NMOS transistor 155 b.

The resistor 151 a, the switch 152 a, and the resistor 153 a are connected in series between the input terminal VC1 and the input terminal VC2, and a connection point of the switch 152 a and the resistor 153 a is connected to the gate of the NMOS transistor 155 a. The current source 154 a and the NMOS transistor 155 a are connected in series between the power-supply terminal VDD and the input terminal VC2. The drain of the NMOS transistor 155 a, which is an output terminal, is connected to the first input terminal of the control circuit 17. The control terminal of the switch 152 a is connected to the third output terminal of the control circuit 17.

The cell balance detection circuit 15 b has the same structure as the cell balance detection circuit 15 a, and the output terminal thereof is connected to the second input terminal of the control circuit 17.

The overcharge detection circuit 16 a has a resistor 161 a, a switch 162 a, a resistor 163 a, a current source 164 a, and an NMOS transistor 165 a, and the overcharge detection circuit 16 b has a resistor 161 b, a switch 162 b, a resistor 163 b, a current source 164 b, and an NMOS transistor 165 b.

The resistor 161 a, the switch 162 a, and the resistor 163 a are connected in series between the input terminal VC1 and the input terminal VC2, and a connection point of the switch 162 a and the resistor 163 a is connected to the gate of the NMOS transistor 165 a. The current source 164 a and the NMOS transistor 165 a are connected in series between the power-supply terminal VDD and the input terminal VC2. The drain of the NMOS transistor 165 a, which is an output terminal, is connected to the third input terminal of the control circuit 17. The control terminal of the switch 162 a is connected to the third output terminal of the control circuit 17.

The overcharge detection circuit 16 b has the same structure as the overcharge detection circuit 16 a, and the output terminal thereof is connected to the fourth input terminal of the control circuit 17.

The charge-discharge control terminal of the control circuit 17 is connected to the output terminal CO.

The operation of the battery device constructed as above will be described below.

The batteries 11 a and 11 b whose voltage is low due to discharging to a load are charged by a charger connected between the external terminal EB+ and the external terminal EB−. In the case where the voltages of the battery 11 a and the battery 11 b are lower than the cell balance voltage, all the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b do not send detection signals to the control circuit 17.

Since no detection signal is supplied, the control circuit 17 outputs control signals to turn off the switches from the first and second output terminals, and outputs a control signal to turn on the switches from the third output terminal. The cell balancing circuits 14 a and 14 b hence do not perform cell balancing operation. In this case, the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b carries out detection operation.

Next, the operation of the charge-discharge control circuit 10 in the case where the voltage of the battery 11 a exceeds the cell balance voltage but the voltage of the battery 11 b does not exceed the cell balance voltage will be described.

The cell balance detection circuit 15 a detects that the voltage of the battery 11 a exceeds the cell balance voltage, and outputs the cell balance detection signal from the output terminal to the first input terminal of the control circuit 17. Receiving the cell balance detection signal, the control circuit 17 outputs the cell balance control signal from the first output terminal to the cell balancing circuit 14 a, and outputs a control signal for turning on/off of the switches from the third output terminal to the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b.

The cell balance control signal supplied from the first output terminal turns on/off the switch 142 a of the cell balancing circuit 14 a in a prescribed cycle. The switches of the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b are hence turned off in the on-state of the switch 142 a or turned on in the off-state of the switch 142 a by the control signal supplied from the third output terminal.

According to the turning on of the switch 142 a, the cell balancing circuit 14 a controls the voltage of the battery 11 a by making a current flow through the protective resistor 12 a and the protective resistor 12 b. The voltage at the input terminal VC2 becomes higher than the voltage at the positive electrode of the battery 11 b due to the flow of current through the protective resistor 12 b. In other words, a voltage larger than or equal to the threshold value may be applied between the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 155 b and the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 165 b.

Since the switch 152 b in the cell balance detection circuit 15 b is turned off at this time, application of the voltage larger than or equal to the threshold value between the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 155 b can be prevented. Likewise, since the switch 162 b in the overcharge detection circuit 16 b is also turned off, application of the voltage larger than or equal to the threshold value between the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 165 b can be prevented.

Next, the operation of the charge-discharge control circuit 10 in the case where the voltage of the battery 11 b exceeds the cell balance voltage but the voltage of the battery 11 a does not exceed the cell balance voltage will be described.

The cell balance detection circuit 15 b detects that the voltage of the battery 11 b exceeds the cell balance voltage, and outputs the cell balance detection signal from the output terminal to the second input terminal of the control circuit 17. Receiving the cell balance detection signal, the control circuit 17 outputs the cell balance control signal from the second output terminal to the cell balancing circuit 14 b, and outputs the control signal for turning on/off of the switches from the third output terminal to the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b.

The cell balance control signal supplied from the second output terminal turns on off the switch 142 b of the cell balancing circuit 14 b in the prescribed cycle. The switches of the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b are hence turned off in the on-state of the switch 142 b or turned on in the off-state of the switch 142 b by the control signal supplied from the third output terminal.

According to the turning on of the switch 142 b, the cell balancing circuit 14 b controls the voltage of the battery 11 b by making a current flow through the protective resistor 12 b. The voltage at the input terminal VC2 becomes lower than the voltage at the positive electrode of the battery 11 b due to the flow of current through the protective resistor 12 b. In other words, a voltage larger than or equal to the threshold value may be applied between the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 155 a and the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 165 a.

Since the switch 152 a in the cell balance detection circuit 15 a is turned off at this time, application of the voltage larger than or equal to the threshold value between the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 155 a can be prevented. Likewise, since the switch 162 a in the overcharge detection circuit 16 a is also turned off, application of the voltage larger than or equal to the threshold value between the gate and source of the NMOS transistor 165 a can be prevented. Since the switches in the cell balance detection circuits 15 a, 15 b and the overcharge detection circuits 16 a, 16 b are turned on while the switch 142 a and the switch 142 b are turned off, the voltage detection operation for the battery 11 a and the battery 1 1 b can be carried out without problems.

The charge-discharge control circuit 10 continues charge control while performing the above-described cell balancing operation for the battery 11 a or the battery 11 b. Then, the overcharge detection circuit 16 a or the overcharge detection circuit 16 b detects overcharge from the voltage of the battery 11 a or the battery 11 b which exceeds an overcharge voltage, and outputs an overcharge detection signal. Receiving the overcharge detection signal from the overcharge detection circuit 16 a or the overcharge detection circuit 16 b, the control circuit 17 stops the cell balancing operation, and outputs L level signal from the output terminal CO to the FET 13 to stop charging.

As described above, according to the charge-discharge control circuit of the present invention, since the cell balancing circuits are incorporated so that the switches which turn on/off complementarily to the switches of the cell balancing circuits are provided in the cell balance detection circuits and the overcharge detection circuits, the terminal from which a cell balance signal is supplied can be reduced. In other words, the costs of the charge-discharge control circuit and the battery device can be reduced.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram illustrating another example of a battery device having cell balancing circuits according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3 a charge-discharge control circuit 30 has voltage detection circuits 18 a, 18 b in both of which a cell balancing circuit and an overcharge detection circuit are constructed in common. Since other part of the circuit structure is identical to that of the charge-discharge control circuit 10, duplicated explanations will be omitted.

The voltage detection circuit 18 a has a resistor 151 a, a switch 152 a, a resistor 183 a, a resistor 161 a, a switch 162 a, a current source 184 a, and an NMOS transistor 185 a, and the voltage detection circuit 18 b has a resistor 151 b, a switch 152 b, a resistor 183 b, a resistor 161 b, a switch 162 b, a current source 184 b, and art NMOS transistor 185 b.

That is, the voltage detection circuit 18 a has a resistor 183 a, which works commonly as the resistor 153 a of the cell balancing circuit 15 a and the resistor 163 a of the overcharge detection circuit 16 a, a current source 184 a and an NMOS transistor 185 a, which works commonly as the current source 154 a and the NMOS transistor 155 a of the cell balancing circuit 15 a, and the current source 164 a and the NMOS transistor 165 a of the overcharge detection circuit 16 a. And the voltage detection circuit 18 b has a resistor 183 b, which works commonly as the resistor 153 b of the cell balancing circuit 15 b and the resistor 163 b of the overcharge detection circuit 16 b, a current source 184 b and an NMOS transistor 185 b, which works commonly as the current source 154 b and the NMOS transistor 155 b of the cell balancing circuit 15 b, and the current source 164 b and the NMOS transistor 165 b of the overcharge detection circuit 16 b.

In the voltage detection circuit 18 a, appropriate selection of the resistance ratio between the resistor 151 a and the resistor 183 a and the resistance ratio between the resistor 161 a and the resistor 183 a enables common use of the resistor 183 a, the current source 184 a and the NMOS transistor 185 a, and appropriate selection of the resistance ratio between the resistor 151 b and the resistor 183 b and the resistance ratio between the resistor 161 b and the resistor 183 b enables common use of the resistor 183 b, the current source 184 b and the NMOS transistor 185 b.

In the configuration described above since the resistors, the current sources and the NMOS transistors can be reduced, further reduction of cost for the charge-discharge control circuit and the battery device can be possible

While the embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, the structure of two batteries is taken as an example in the aforementioned embodiment, but the number of batteries may be three or more. Further, the structure includes the overcharge detection circuits and the EFT for charge control, but the structure may also include overdischarge detection circuits and an FET for discharge control.

Further, in the cell balance detection circuit 15 a(15 b), the connection relationship between the resistor 151 a(151 b) and the switch 152 a(152 b) may be replaced with each other. Likewise, in the overcharge detection circuit 16 a(16 b), the connection relationship between the resistor 161 a(161 b) and the switch 162 a(162 b) may be replaced with each other. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A charge-discharge control circuit configured to control charging and discharging of a plurality of batteries connected in series, comprising: a first input terminal to which a positive electrode of a first battery is connected through a first protective resistor; a second input terminal to which a negative electrode of the first battery and a positive electrode of a second battery are connected through a second protective resistor; a ground terminal to which a negative electrode of the second battery is connected; a first cell balancing circuit connected between the first input terminal and the second input terminal and having a first switch; a second cell balancing circuit connected between the second input terminal and the ground terminal and having a second switch; a first cell balance detection circuit connected between the first input terminal and the second input terminal and having a third switch; a second cell balance detection circuit connected between the second input terminal and the ground terminal and having a fourth switch; a control circuit configured to output a first control signal to turn on the first switch in a prescribed cycle according to a voltage of the first battery which is higher than or equal to a cell balance detection voltage, output a second control signal to turn on the second switch in the prescribed cycle according to a voltage of the second battery which is higher than or equal to the cell balance detection voltage, and output a third control signal to turn off the third switch and the fourth switch in the prescribed cycle while at least one of the first control signal turns on the first switch in the prescribed cycle or the second control signal turns on the second switch in the prescribed cycle; a first overcharge detection circuit connected between the first input terminal and the second input terminal and having a fifth switch; and a second overcharge detection circuit connected between the second input terminal and the ground terminal and having a sixth switch, wherein the control circuit is configured to output the third control signal to turn off the fifth switch and the sixth switch in the prescribed cycle while at least one of the first control signal turns on the first switch in the prescribed cycle or the second control signal turns on the second switch in the prescribed cycle.
 2. A battery device comprising: a plurality of batteries and an FET connected in series between a first external terminal and a second external terminal; and the charge-discharge control circuit according to claim 1 which monitors the voltage of each of the plurality of batteries to control charging and discharging of the plurality of batteries by turning on/off the FET.
 3. The charge-discharge control circuit of claim 1, wherein the first cell balancing circuit comprises a first cell balancing resistor that is different from the first protective resistor and the second protective resistor, and wherein the second cell balancing circuit comprises a second cell balancing resistor that is different from the first protective resistor and the second protective resistor. 